Awesome. Stephen King's best book by far. ( )

One of King's best books, by far. The Stand is about a post-apocalyptic Earth where only a very small percentage of people have survived a plague. The survivors feel themselves drawn to one of two camps - Evil or Good, for the ultimate showdown for survival. Compelling characters, excellent writing and a great plot make this a really excellent book. This is not horror, this is more scifi with a little fantasy aspect. ( )

My absolute favorite Stephen King book, I never get tired of rereading it. It is the ultimate epic, with a huge cast of characters, a setting that traverses the country and an ultimate showdown between good and evil. ( )

Probably the best apocalyptic/dystopian novel ever written. King's virus and fallout are staggeringly, horrifyingly plausible. I couldn't put this book down once I started -- for all that it terrified me at points, I was so drawn into the lives of the characters. My heart broken when tragedy befell them, but I was so happy for the ones that pulled through. Truly outstanding work. ( )

It has been at least 10 years or more since I’ve picked up my copy of Stephen King’s The Stand, and it is still what I consider one of his best works. The copy I have is one I got between ‘88-90 when I was in college. It is the edition that was released as the “uncut” version of the novel. Just enough time had passed that I had let go of all the fine details of the tale, but memories of the characters came flooding back quickly, that’s how much of an impression they left on me the first few times I read it. Frannie, Stu, Nick, Ralph, Mother Abigail, Flagg, Lloyd, Trashy, and of course, good old Tom Cullen. This was one of two books I ever read that gave me nightmares the first time I read it, just because of how King takes what we all realize could happen, even in the present day, and brings it forth into reality. It is almost funny that with the recent news of the swine flu outbreak, the first place I ever remembered hearing of it was in this book. Captain Trips was the result of science playing with Mother Nature just a little too much, resulting in a rule King mentions toward the end of the tale, someone forgot that viruses don’t discriminate in who they kill, unlike conventional weapons.

The tale beings in California, where a lockdown system isn’t quite fast enough, and a young army private manages to escape a base going into lockdown after a biohazard spill. He proceeds halfway across the country to “escape’ the spreading infection he already has. The reader is then taken to various characters towns and lives, giving insight into their lives before the end of the world as we all know it. These scattered lives get pulled together by the forces of good and evil, Mother Abigail, a frail old woman of 108 who lives in the middle of Nebraska, and Randall Flagg, a.k.a. The Walkin’ Dude. Avid King readers will recognize Flagg from many of King’s stories in one form or another, and here, you get to grasp just how evil and deranged this being truly is. King draws the reader into the secret fears and hopes of these characters, and creates two societies that emerge after 99% of the world’s population is wiped out. King pits one group versus the other in what overall becomes a test of God’s will. From the hope that young Frannie has of bringing new life into the world where everyone has died, to Trashy’s insane love of weapons and fires, to Nadine’s torn need to try to save her soul, and her desire to be the bride to her dark prince, to Nick Andros’ compassion that leads a deaf-mute to look after the mentally challenged Tom Cullen, King’s very diverse characters pull the reader into their lives and journeys across a post-apocalyptic United States.

It is a long novel, with great detail and character development, but well worth the time invested in reading it. And make sure you are very careful when you sneeze. ( )